Green Living
There is a difference between practicing magic and living the Green level of the Craft. In the first case, the individual studies to master a number of rituals in order to enter a different state of awareness when attempting to manipulate external energies in the performance of magic. In the second case, the very life of the individual is an ongoing magical experience highlighted with special bursts of magical power.
Ceremonial Magic
The modern fascination with ceremony composed of strict rules and regulations for the practice of magic can be traced back to Medieval and Renaissance writers of magic books called grimoires. These were the early Ceremonialists who wrote extensive and complex rituals by which the Adept could contact the higher realms and effect magic (González-Wippler in The Complete Book of Spells, Ceremonies & Magic gives some examples). The rituals themselves, however, relate to angels, demons, devils and the Son of God. They reflect not an ancient tradition, but a relatively recent one dating back to the Judaic heritage of around 1000 to 600 b.c.e.
The Aryan Influence
I discuss the historical background of the invasions of various Aryan tribes from Central Asia, circa 2000 to 1200 b.c.e., and how the Aryan influence altered religious expression in the lands they conquered in Appendix A. What is important to remember here and in the practice of magic is that the angels, demons, devils and rulers of various realms are derived from the ancient gods and goddesses of conquered peoples. For myself, that knowledge makes it impossible to practice a completely ceremonial type of magic. In order to call upon an archangel, for example, the magician must subscribe to some of the beliefs of the relatively more modern religious systems. This does not mean the system cannot work, only that in order for it to work, the practitioner needs to accept and follow the basics of the Aryan methodology that emphasizes the power of deities who may be described as being of a social class (rulers, priests, and warriors) rather than of nature (the Lady and the Lord, matter and energy of the foundation level).
The politicization of religion is the heritage of the ancient Aryans. It has left its mark in modern faiths through a subsequent pattern of clerical elitism and dominance, with the subservience of the community of believers enforced through ritualized dogmas and doctrines. The word “Aryan” should not be interpreted as a negative term despite its misuse in modern contexts of racial prejudice and ethnic bigotry, since all modern mainstream religions are Aryan-based. The conflicts that occur between these faiths are mainly the result of the degree of emphasis given to Green-level concepts in the different sects. The original purpose for changing the religious practices of a region was to ensure control by a ruling invader over the conquered people.
The persecutions and wars of religion that have been, and still are, the hallmark of Western history were unknown prior to the migrations of the Aryans. This aggressive advance of people was possibly due to overpopulation and a successful change in societal organization meant to deal with the problem. Beginning around 2000 b.c.e., the arrival of these people into the southern reaches of the Indian subcontinent, the Near East, and the Mediterranean gave birth to the faiths of Hinduism, the classical Greek pantheon, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—all of which then fought among themselves (for each group had, and most continue to have, numerous sects and denominations) and with each other over which doctrine was the true faith. The answer, of course, is “none of the above” and “all of the above.”
The Green Influence
The Green-focused Witch turns away from artificial creation and instead embraces the primal religion that honors the natural forces active in the creation of the world. Although there are many people who feel Ceremonial magic is a valid approach to magic, anyone who studies history and understands the derivation for the rituals of Ceremonialism is unlikely to be able to continue to use the system with any degree of success because knowledge, which is the gift of the Goddess, alters the perception. Joseph Campbell was unable to remain a Catholic after his study of world mythological patterns, and numerous historians set aside religion after discovering the origins of various faiths, so it should not be considered unusual for a person who rejects mainstream religions to also reject a magical system that has connections to those beliefs. My purpose here is to attempt to locate the elements underlying even the magical systems based in the modern faiths and bring these to the foreground.
Craft History
The beauty of the Green practice is that laughter and exploration are not destructive to the atmosphere created for magical work. Indeed, the Lady and the Lord thrive on laughter and want their children to be happy. Yet even in Witchcraft there is a different sort of problem, similar to the ritualistic approach of Ceremonialism, that needs to be addressed for a balanced view of the Craft today and how it connects to the Green elements of the ancient past. Numerous articles and a few books on the subject of the origins of Wicca have been, and will undoubtedly continue to be, written over the years. The real question brought forward by these writings is not how the Craft developed or what its origins are, but how well it can stand up to analysis and historical research. If people fall away from mainstream faiths because those religions could not stand up under critical review, why should people approach magic and the Craft and not give these the same degree of scrutiny? How a person responds to the development of the modern Craft will affect how (or if) a person practices Witchcraft and magic. Each individual needs to find a personal satisfaction in what is done for spiritual, physical, emotional, and intellectual development, and in doing so, to paraphrase Joseph Campbell, each person will come to know what bliss is being followed.
Many people who were members of the fashionable secret societies of the Victorian Age became influential in the area of Witchcraft. By the early part of the twentieth century, they had taken Ceremonial aspects and applied them to the Craft, and adapted or created dogmas like the Charge of the Goddess (I envision Athena on horseback racing down a hillside in battle gear with her spear pointed at a startled supplicant, but I tend to have a droll sense of humor), a poetic Witch’s Rede (which has been criticized for its artificially quaint language) containing the Law of Threefold Return (in contrast to a karmic view of one-for-one), the Witches’ Rune, and the Fivefold (or Sevenfold) Blessing.
Early people involved in the Witchcraft revival wrote books, lectured, created traditions, and some even authorized covens based on a system of initiations by degrees. In this system, the highest degree was obtained through sexual union with a Priest (or sometimes a Priestess) of the organized coven tradition. They pronounced themselves to be Kings and Queens of Witches, wrote “Witch’s Bibles,” and became so well recognized in the media that it became accepted that there were only certain kinds of Witchcraft—Gardnerian, Alexandrian, and the creations of several other individuals. These were complete with ceremonies that might include nudity and sexual relations among the coven members, which now looks rather dated. Meanwhile, Witches all over the world had been quietly going about their business, privately practicing the Craft. Suddenly, they and their children were not considered “legitimate” although they had not even sought recognition. A few writers of Witchcraft books made this distinction, and for a long time, there were people who actually believed that either there were no solitaries or family practices, or that if there were any, they were not “real” Witches because they had not been initiated by the leader of a recognized coven tradition. It has only been in recent years that the solitary Witch has regained recognition and acceptance within the established Wiccan community.
The village witch, hedge witch, cottage witch, and even the kitchen witch are all direct descendants of the Green practice of Witchcraft—the Old Religion. It can be considered irrelevant when some twentieth century coven traditions boast of a chain of initiations back to Gardner if you consider that there have been and still are practicing Witches all over the world who have never heard of Gardner, much less care about any initiation he might have wanted to bestow. I have heard from family tradition Witches who find the coven requirement of a chain of initiations for “legitimacy” as anything from amusing to rather insulting, but I have also heard from newcomers to the Craft who are confused about whether or not they must subordinate themselves to a coven leader in order to be a “real” Witch.
The notion of “real” and “unreal” Witches should not be a factor for the practice of the Craft, and it certainly does not relate to the Green elements of the Craft. The Witch is one who is united with the Goddess and the God, and that is a personal matter. This is rather like Christians differentiating among themselves between who is merely Christian and who is born-again Christian. Different, individualized approaches to the Craft are not encouraged when there is an attitude of exclusivity, and recent proposals of creating a Wiccan orthodoxy have resulted in a need for further introspection on the meaning and purpose of Witchcraft as a religious expression.
Core Traditions
The coven traditions of this century have certainly made a significant contribution to modern Wicca, particularly in the way of literature and ritual content, so that almost all Witches in westernized societies are familiar with such standards as the Charge of the Goddess and the Witch’s Rede. How these coven formats affect the Green level is a matter worthy of consideration. The main items I have examined, which form the core of most modern Wiccan traditions, are the Wiccan Rede, the Charge of the Goddess, the Witches’ Rune, and the Fivefold (and Sevenfold) Blessing.
The Wiccan Rede
Bide the Witch’s law ye must,
In perfect love, in perfect trust.
Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill:
An ye harm none, do what ye will.
What ye send forth comes back to thee,
So ever mind the Rule of Three.
Follow this with mind and heart,
And merry ye meet, and merry ye part.
This has its origins with Gardner, but perhaps only in the rhyming of the ideas. The criticisms leveled at the pseudo-archaic language is one of those little things that annoy people about the Craft of today—it seems to be built upon a false foundation that was first presented as literally true, then re-defined as based on a real code, but finally accepted as the start of a new religious application that is just as valid as any other new creed. Yet, from my point of view as a historian and as one having a family heritage of Craft usage, I find it offensive that because the truth was not stated at the outset, it may now be completely lost.
The original implication that the Rede as written above was a secret passed down through the ages (and therefore “legitimate”) and that Gardner was sharing this ancient secret with people has sullied the genuine underlying truths. Because my Brazilian mother and grandmother used the same ideas contained in the Rede, I am inclined to believe that Gardner based his writings and teachings on a genuine Craft guideline. Therefore, his innovation of creating a litany for the benefit of others who sought directions for experiencing the Craft themselves has been erroneously labeled as a new creed. From the Witch’s perspective, it is much better for such articles of faith as the Rede and the Charge to be accepted as literary creations for a larger revival of the Old Religion than to pretend that these are the original ancient litanies. The Gardnerian tradition, as an example, then takes on no different an aspect than that of a contemporary Christian denomination like the Christian Scientists or the Universalist Unitarians. Accepting this as the case, only the stilted language employed may be an annoyance. Today, there are other versions of these litanies in wide use which are re-phrased in modern language forms, some better than others.
The deities of the Craft are not stuck in the seventeenth century, but I believe that the use of old language forms comes, for the most part, from a desire to emulate the style of the King James Bible (which is criticized as flawed by translators). The reason for doing so is the same reason the King James version has remained popular despite the newer, more accurate translations: the air of “legitimacy” wrought by time, not because it is right, but because it is old from a modern perspective.
My mother and grandmother were very practical people who considered themselves Catholics, yet they also held onto spiritist traditions. I learned the rules of magic in plain terms, but the Green elements may be expressed through the Rede without difficulty because the essence is drawn from the same source (except for the Threefold Return). In examining the Rede, I will compare it line by line with what I call the Rules of Conduct, although my mother did not give these any title—she merely told me the rules repeatedly over the years. I can still hear her low voice patiently repeating the rules to me:
For “Bide the Witch’s law ye must,” she said, “Be careful what you do.” For “In perfect love, in perfect trust,” she said, “Be careful who you trust.” For “An ye harm none, do what ye will,” she said, “Don’t use the power to hurt someone because—” for “What ye send forth comes back to thee,” she concluded with, “what is sent comes back.” (“Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill” and “So ever mind the Rule of Three” were not used.) For “Follow this with mind and heart” (which reflects the Green level use of magic), my mother stated simply, “To use the power, you must feel it in your heart and know it in your mind.” For “And merry ye meet, and merry ye part,” my mother told me that Grandmother admonished her, “Never use the power against someone else who has the power.”
The “merry meet” line appears to be a poetic version (based on older language forms) of the code among pre- and non-Gardnerian Witches to respect one another. This implies to me that Gardner did have genuine Craft information to work with and had made an effort to compose it for general use. This is an element of relationships—if a person has the power (is a Witch) then that person is actively connected to the Divine, so another person so connected would be damaging their own power by working it against one so connected. Since my mother’s background is different from Gardner’s, it could be that the Threefold Return was a verbalization of this connection between the Witch and the Divine. By working against someone, the Witch could incur a return not only from the individual but also from the Lady and the Lord. The bottom line is that Witches do not perform magic against other Witches because the repercussions would be on the sender.
Should a student try to set one Witch against another (I know of such a case), the Witch will contact the other. Together they will share information and both will disconnect from the student. Usually this situation only arises if the seeker turns out to be not ready for instruction, perhaps because of immaturity or emotional instability. By withdrawing from the seeker, the Witch gives the individual time to mature or to get personal problems under control. There is not any real danger from discontented people throwing magic around in a fit of temper because the negative power always returns to the sender. The two Witches in the above scenario were not afraid for their own safety but rather for the welfare of the student, who was in danger of self-harm through a desire to have power over other people.
Because the Gardnerian version of the Rede is widely accepted in the Craft, it is an acceptable expression of a basic element of Pagan systems. Although I feel that the threefold aspect is reminiscent of an Aryan threat—severe retribution from the unapproachable God should the faithful deviate from the laws of the clergy—the fact that Gardner may have been a member of the Ceremonial magic order called the Golden Dawn might explain why he has this element in his Rede. The other possible interpretation of the Witch incurring a return from the Craft-connected recipient as well as from the Lady and the Lord makes this usage understandable on a more natural level.
The Charge of the Goddess
This first appeared in Charles Leland’s 1897 book Aradia, Gospel of the Witches, and was lifted for part of the more familiar version found in Gerald Gardner’s Book of Shadows and used throughout modern Wicca. Leland’s “Charge” was later given a poetic ending by Gardner. The first section is written in the first person as from the Goddess herself, and tells Witches to meet in secret monthly, preferably during the full moon, to adore the spirit of the Queen of all Witches and there learn to work magic. To show they are really free from slavery, the Witches are exhorted to be naked, to “dance, sing, feast, make music and love” in her praise. This is a reference, then, to full moon Esbats rather than to Sabbats.
The problem with this doctrine is the time period in which it was written—the era of Victorian moral and societal strictness when secret societies flourished primarily as an escape from the oppressive social atmosphere. While the Charge is an instruction for freedom in life, it is also male-oriented, referring (as an example) to joy in the heart of man. Even with a Goddess voicing the Charge, the focus is on males, not females, and not both as equals.
Because the Charge is a product of its times, only the bits of generally accepted aspects of the Goddess (such as her giving knowledge of immortality, not demanding sacrifice, and being the mother of All) are relevant, and the rest, in stilted language, is already outdated. The second part of the Charge, which demonstrates Gardner’s Craft connections, is more reasonable as it reminds the seeker that those who look for her outside themselves must first find her within, “For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.” From the perspective of the Green level of the Craft, this is the only part of the Charge that is especially meaningful and indicates again that Gardner was incorporating an authentic Witch tradition.
The Witches’ Rune
Used to raise power at a coven meeting by some traditions, and relating to Christian concepts of heaven and hell, the Witches’ Rune does not appear to be a Green element. The references to the use of a sword and scourging also reveal this Rune to be Ceremonial in nature. Witches of the Old Religion did not have swords, and it is unlikely they practiced scourging. However, the latter inclusion could be related to nineteenth-century British tourism discovering the fresco scene at the Villa of Mysteries in Pompeii depicting as yet unidentified rites (although some Wiccans tend to attribute them to Dionysus and Arianna—Leland’s Aradia, perhaps?). Having seen these particular wall paintings myself, I am more inclined to consider them related to the resurrection cult of Cybele and Attis. The entire Villa of Mysteries contains depictions indicating a cross-section of a number of diverse resurrection sects, from Isis to Dionysus to Cybele. This last one was very big in the Roman Empire from circa 150 b.c.e. until it was outlawed by Christian lawmakers in the time of Constantine. Scourging was also a historical aspect of convent life in some of the stricter Catholic traditions (there are paintings in Mexico of nuns praying as they walk in a circle with each nun whipping the nun in front of her).
The call of “Eko, Eko” is reminiscent of the call of the Bacchantes of Dionysus, “Evoa!” (from which may come the Latin word evocare, meaning to summon or evoke). The names added to the Rune are not Wiccan but are based on Ceremonial demons and archdemons (fallen angels who rebelled against God). To use the name of Lucifer as the brother of Diana (they were supposed to be Aradia’s parents) and then say he was kicked out of paradise for his arrogance shows the unfortunate extent of this infiltration of Christian ideas into the Craft. Lucifer was actually quite simply the Roman God of the Morning Star, Venus. Here again is the androgyne quality that the early Christian Church hated, with Venus seen as both female and male depending upon whether it is the Morning Star or the Evening Star. Because the Morning Star equates to Lucifer, González-Wippler equates Lucifer to Apollo, which is not far off as the typical parallel between the God and Goddess with the sun and the moon or Apollo and Diana.
The Fivefold and Sevenfold Blessing
I have already mentioned the Fivefold (and Sevenfold) Blessing in the sense of Victorian escapism, but there are some later variations to this Blessing which make it more balanced than the original. From this blessing comes the familiar expression among Witches, “Blessed be.” This is often used as a greeting or as a farewell. The blessing can be accompanied with a hug and kiss, and/or anointing with oil. This is the Fivefold Blessing:
Blessed be thy feet, that bring thee on this path.
Blessed be thy knees, that kneel to the Lord and Lady.
Blessed be thy womb, without which we would not be.
Blessed be thy breasts, formed in beauty and in strength
Blessed be thy lips, that speak (utter) the sacred names.
The Sevenfold Blessing begins by asking for a blessing from the Goddess, and adds a blessing for the eyes to see her path and for the nose to breathe in her essence. It drops the blessing for the knees, and changes the womb to the loins. Depending on the tradition, the blessings move from feet to lips or lips to feet.
The obvious problem with these blessings is that unless a generic form is used, only females are being blessed—presumably by a male priest. Again, this demonstrates the age in which these litanies were created, but that does not mean the Blessings should be discarded. The Blessings today vary between Craft traditions and practitioners. The central theme of blessing is found throughout ancient religions, and can be considered an appropriate expression of a Green element underlying the various systems.
One main difference in my approach to the Divine as learned from my mother is that there is no ritual kneeling before the Lady and the Lord—they made us to stand upright in their presence, and the Green altar of ancient heritage was apparently not a low one, but at a comfortable height to stand before. To determine what place any altar has in the basic level of the Craft, you only need to consider that even if it is an Aryan invention, it had to have come from a time when the Green elements were in use because high altars were used prior to the advent of those later Aryan faiths that tried to eliminate the natural (Green) level.
The Witch who focuses on the Green element may sit to meditate or to enjoy cakes and wine after a ritual, or kneel before a shrine in meditation if so inclined, but the knees ought not to be perceived as bending before the Divine if we accept that we are the Divine and the Divine are us. That is the key to being one with the All. The kneeling aspect is a holdover from Ceremonialism and the ritual Aryan distancing of God (as seen in the Catholic Mass, as an example). With my own practice, the body is being blessed (without the kisses) for while it has many independent functions (breathing, heart beat, nervous system, and so forth) it works with and contains the spirit of the Witch:
Blessed be my feet, that take me on my path.
Blessed be my knees, that support me before the Divine.
Blessed be my abdomen, that gives me inner strength.
Blessed be my breast, that holds my heart true to them.
Blessed be my lips, that speak the secret names.
To this can be added:
Blessed be my eyes, that see the beauty of their love.
Blessed be my mind, that seeks their knowledge and wisdom.
The traditional greeting of “Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again” came from the expectation that Witches were secure in each other’s company (“perfect love and perfect trust” also reflects this certainty). They could not always say the same about other people. Since this Gardnerian form is a commonly used expression of a Green element of the Craft, I feel free to use it also.
Other Green Codes
It is unfortunate that so much fantasy writing depicts the practice of the Old Religion in terms of evil and good Witches attacking each other. This continuation in popular reading materials of presenting magic as something that leads to abuse and brings danger to innocent victims only serves to raise the level of paranoia and hysteria directed at the Craft and its devotees. There are many people who have no idea what the Craft is all about, and there is the danger of such tales being accepted as literal truth in substance rather than as simple entertainment.
Besides the commonly recognized rules of Witchcraft, my mother instilled in me other codes that can be found in the Green level of the Craft worldwide and even in the Pagan-based “superstitions” of Catholicism. The most important thing for a seeker to remember is that in Witchcraft, the practitioner is one with the All, so the rule most strongly emphasized is that the connection is there for positive or negative energy.
I remember my mother drilling into my consciousness that “If you say negative things, you will draw them.” In our household we never were allowed to invoke “bad things,” even when these were simply figures of speech. Any slip of the tongue was met with a sharp rebuke. But the lessons of childhood are well-learned, and this is one that will be most useful to the seeker in later years, for it is an exercise in self-control.
The other matter my mother was cautious about involves the negative drawing power of others who are not connected, but are careless. My mother referred to this as “bad eyes” and meant that someone was looking at another person with jealousy, envy, or simple spitefulness, and spoke things that were perhaps not intentionally mean, but had that effect. Other people have told me of similar warnings in their own families, but usually the ethnic background was Italian. I suspect that this is another Pagan superstition prevalent in the Catholic Church, particularly among Latin peoples.
The only way to know when the bad eye was being given was by the way you felt when the person looked at you or made a comment. My brother was in Vietnam, due to return home, and my mother had told an elderly neighbor how glad she was that he was finally returning. The neighbor, being crotchety by nature, commented, “Well, if he makes it.” My mother immediately saw the negative power of those words and threw her own energies into lighting candles for his protection and called me to do the same. This may well have saved my brother’s life, for on his departure he stepped on a land mine that failed to explode and then the helicopter he boarded was shot down, but he nevertheless made it home safe and sound. She kept the candle vigil going until she knew he was out of danger.
Normally, a word in return can negate the power of an ill-conceived remark. If the person is obstinate and does not want to let the remark be turned away verbally, then you may send the negativity back to the sender by making the sign of the horns (for the God) and visualizing the energy sent back through the horns of your fingers (index and little finger extended, rest curled into a fist). The best way to do this is to let the miscreants think they got the last word in, then send it back when they are not looking. The other option is to do a quick candle spell, or if the offense took place in your home, burn frankincense when the person leaves to cleanse the air of negativity. You may even want to open the front door and “sweep” out the negative energy with your besom after you have let the incense do its work.
Earlier I mentioned the Bacchantes, and I feel that the possible inclusion of their call and other aspects of the Cult of Dionysus in Wicca is significant. The reason for this is that much of the Green level came into the ancient European continent from the Indus by way of Asia Minor. The path leads around the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and into Western Europe, but also from Asia Minor across Greece and into Eastern Europe. Thrace is located in the Balkan Peninsula (Slavic lands) north of Greece, and the ancient, pre-Olympic deity of Dionysus was honored there as a Horned God of life, death, and rebirth.
The very name of Dionysus has been traced back to Shiva by several historians, particularly Alain Danielou in his book Gods of Love and Ecstasy, The Traditions of Shiva and Dionysus. The significance of this lies in that my mother and grandmother, Brazilians of Celtic-Iberian descent, used a Portuguese pronunciation of the Thracian Moon Goddess Bendidia (Benedida) in some of their spells. The connection between Celtic-descent Witches and Thrace is hinted at in Gardner’s Book of Shadows and makes it clear through the common usage of these ideas even in Brazil that his Wiccan litany did have a basis in Witch practices, some of which had been affected by Christianity over the centuries.
One spell involving Benedida that I learned as a child was to recover lost items. When I complained to my mother that I could not find a toy, she showed me how to get it back (she presumed that it was “borrowed”). You can imagine my delight to watch her dramatically write the name “Benedida” on a piece of paper, crease it, wave it through the air and snap it closed. As she continued to wrap up the paper she solemnly intoned: “Benedida, I have you here and I will not let you go until you return the missing toy.” She held the paper tightly in her fingers and then placed the wrapped paper carefully (so as not to let Benedida escape) under the leg of a heavy chair. Then she told me to look again for the toy. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when I easily found my toy. For several weeks, I gave Benedida a run for her money as I tried the spell over and over!
The other spell involving Benedida is a traditional one for New Year’s Eve. We would sit at the dining room table with a cut-up pomegranate and strip of white paper folded lengthwise in half awaiting the chiming of the clock for midnight. With each chime we would take a pomegranate seed, bite it, say: “Benedida! Bring me money!” then lay the seed in the fold of the strip of paper and fold it over. It didn’t matter if the clock beat us to the twelfth chime or not, the rest of the paper was then tightly folded up and tucked inside our wallets to remain there as a money-draw for the year.
With the second spell, the use of the pomegranate shows the relationship of the Moon Goddess (Benedida, or Hecate) helping the Earth Mother find her daughter, Persephone, as well as the association of the realm of Hades with riches. The first spell shows the relationship between the Moon Goddess and the fairy folk (who like to borrow things from the people they live around). I tend to view Benedida as a crone figure—rather like a grandmother—who is wise to the location of objects in any plane and traverses the regions of the Realm of Shadows.
Family Lore
As you can see by my examples, when you are living Green the lore is passed along according to need. Sometimes I got lucky and heard a story about a spell Grandmother did when Mother was a child. My mother told me about a time when she was a child and a friend of hers came to visit Grandmother because she had a terrible case of hives on her legs. Her friend told my grandmother that she had made fun of another little girl, and the girl had taken a mouth full of cornmeal and spat it at her legs. Afterwards, the hives appeared and itched beyond endurance. Grandmother was never called a Witch, mind you, but people knew who to see for spells and charms as well as for herbal cures. She told the child to get a pan of water and sneak up behind the girl who had spat the cornmeal, then dash the water at the girl’s legs. My mother’s friend did this, and the hives disappeared. In this case it was not a matter of finding a salve for the hives, but of negating an energy that otherwise would have returned to harm the girl that had sent it. Thus, my grandmother worked for the benefit of both children.
My mother was a source of Green Craft wisdom gently handed down to me as folk traditions without any name given. I realized much later that things we were doing were things other people said Witches did. The two times we found a nearly full-fledged bird fallen from its nest but unable to fly, my mother put it in a shoebox and fed it minced worms and water with an eyedropper until it was ready to fly away. When she would chide me for a wrongdoing that I was sure she could not have found out, she would tell me, “A little bird told me.” And I never doubted her.
Although my grandmother always maintained an herb garden, my mother did not. Instead, she relied upon the magic of flowers. For security around the house, she would plant a variety called hen and chicks at the front of the house. If she wanted to move, she would plant bonina, a green bushy shrub with small, trumpet-like white flowers in which a single large round seed would form that could easily be harvested for spreading the plant. If you did not want to move, then someone else should give you this plant as a gift and you will stay put. Although my mother enjoyed one house we were in, she loved the bonina so much she planted it anyway. Sure enough, within a year we were moving again and she said she wished that she had not planted the bonina. This time she did not take the seeds along with her, and although she never planted bonina again, she continued to move around for many more years.
Mother stayed connected to the Lady through the working of the soil and the gathering and storing of the harvest. We once had a vegetable garden in one house that yielded quite a lot for canning; this was another passion of hers. At another house there were grapes to turn into jellies, and after another move, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and vegetables. No matter where she lived, she always had green plants around the house to tend and they thrived under her care.
My father was always interested in the local plant and animal life wherever we lived, and I felt he was a naturalist at heart. So I collected plants and leaves to identify them and tape them to shirtboards for reference, or kept track of what I saw in my natural surroundings with the aid of bird, flower, animal, and sea life guides. It was my mother who taught me to set out milk for the fairies, but she was a little wary of the Other People. I generally set out milk on days when it seems appropriate, and wine or Irish Whiskey on full moons, and sometimes these days we will use amaretto or some other liqueur.
With the Green level of the Craft, the inclusion of the fairy folk is a natural extension since you are dealing with herbs and plant devas (energies, fairies). You can tell that you have attracted the fairies to your home when things disappear for awhile then turn up unexpectedly. They are very curious and will borrow things to use or to examine, but will return them in due time. Sometimes they will even leave gifts. When my daughter was a child, she found a perfect little “teacup” made of stone. I told her to keep it safe as it was a fairy cup, and she did for many years. One day the cup simply disappeared from her room and she was very upset about it. I told her the fairies must have wanted it back and would probably leave something else for her. Sure enough, she soon found a pretty engraved golden ring that fit her finger exactly. I like to think that she has the Blessing of the Sidhe (pronounced “Shee”), the Other People.
Another aspect of Green awareness involves looking at the moon, the rising and setting sun, and the clouds on nearly a daily basis. When you get up early in the morning, go outside and look at the clouds in the early dawn. In the evening, watch the clouds as the sun sets. Often things will appear that others may not notice or consider “real,” but for the Witch, everything is “real” in one form or another. I have seen black unicorns race across the sky and I have called upon the white unicorns to herd them away from where I live. These black unicorns are portents of negative energies racing to sow discord and storms where they have been drawn, but the white unicorns will come when called upon and chase away the black ones.
This is similar to seeing the Wild Hunt, the fairy host of the Lord of Shadows, racing across the sky. Danielou and Joseph Campbell relate this Celtic figure to tales of Dionysus and his wild entourage of maenads and the equally wild group (the “bhaktas,” who Danielou links with the Bacchantes of Dionysus) that follows Shiva. To read the legends of both is to again see the transference of a common element from the Indus to Thrace and into Europe. I know when I see this apparition to note the direction in which they ride and avoid that place, for that is where their destination lies, and again, you can expect to hear about discord and storms from that area. Many people have become too sophisticated in the modern world to give any notice to the warnings and signs that are offered us. Some of this is due to Biblical scoldings against knowing the signs of the sky, but those injunctions were created specifically to undermine the practices of the times in which they were written. I am not the only person who reads the clouds and sees the Wild Hunt, but I mention these things here for the benefit of those who do so and would like a little confirmation that this is a normal Witchcraft practice.
The Witch who is focused on the Green element of the Craft frequently talks to plants and animals with the expectation that they will understand and respond. Part of living Green requires that the union between the practitioner and the rest of the earth is accepted. There is no room for fearfulness, doubt, or negativity regarding what nature has to offer, and from this comes the ability to feel the presence in all things. Divination of any type—looking at the clouds, moon, sun, stars, crystals, mirrors, cards, water, and so forth—becomes a daily activity that is a communication with all of nature and the Lady and the Lord. There is no dogma as this would limit the conversation and make it a script rather than spontaneous expression. The rules, such as they are, are practical guidelines for everyday living. The Craft is not meant to be a forum for self-promotion to a community of followers, nor is it a means of feeling important. By being part of the All, egotism is subdued.
In living the Craft, the practitioner is willing to teach anyone who sincerely wants to learn, but this is not a route to power and domination or fame and fortune. It is instead a way of life that brings peace and contentment in nature. The elementals form a part of each person as body, intellect and intuition, passion and energy, and the waters of life. Our contribution to all of this is our spirit, which is part of the spirit of the Lady and the Lord. We belong to our world and to our universe, and it is within us all. Because each person relates to the Divine individually, I do not feel that there can ever be an orthodox book of rules, litany, dogma, and rituals. Even the names of the Divine will vary from person to person as each Witch subscribes to a pantheon that has meaning to the individual. No belief is needed because the individual meets and communicates directly with the Lady and the Lord.
People can limit their scope by focusing on the Lady and the Lord in relation to the earth, or widen their view to see them as the united power that stands behind the very creation of our universe. The single entity called the “One Initiator” by Dion Fortune and described as “too ephemeral to define” by Marion Green is in fact recognizable as the Divine Androgyne aspect of the Lady and the Lord united. It is the 30,000-year-old image of Shiva Ardhanari (half male and half female) which then split apart to form the energy and matter of the universe and all that is within it. This imagery has been carried into numerous ancient cultures, and can be found in the modern Bible with its confusing reference in Genesis of “Let us make man in our image.” The implication is that of a Dual Deity, and the word should be “humanity” rather than “man.” The translation over the centuries has changed the word “side” into “rib” (Stone) so that the true first human of mythology was in fact an androgyne fashioned after the androgyne image of the Lord and the Lady in union, then separated for the sake of companionship.
Because the Green-level Witch is attuned to the tides of the energies of the Earth Goddess and Sky God, the celebration of Sabbats or even Esbats is not necessarily according to the calendar, but according to what feels right for the individual. The point to remember is that these celebrations are not done for the Lady and the Lord, but for ourselves. They do not need or require worship and offerings. You do not need rituals when you can simply let your own energies blend and flow with those of surrounding nature to communicate with the Divine. When you read about Craft practice, by all means try out different techniques and find out how other Witches do things, but always follow your own star and find your own path.